A centralised scouting model could benefit the A-League

It was a change that almost snuck through without notice – and many critics claim that's just the way the game's governing body wants it – but what are the implications of FIFA's adjustment to the licensing of player agents and its potential impact on leagues here and elsewhere across the world?

The A-League's imports have been something of a mixed bag this season. Here two of the best, Fahid ben Khalfallah and Roly Bonevacia go at it. (Getty) Source: Getty Images

Late last week FIFA announced mass changes to the way agents will be able to operate, including dropping the very name they go by and replacing it with the term 'intermediaries.'

The most sweeping change is that agents/intermediaries no longer have to be licenced by FIFA, rather they only need to pass a series of background checks under some kind of guidance from individual national associations – in essence meaning anyone can now walk off the street and start representing players.

Many existing agents are perhaps more concerned with the capping of commissions from transfers at 3 per cent but the move has the potential to further muddy an industry that already attracts its fair share of 'sharks' and ultimately those set to lose could well be the very players and clubs which the more unscrupulous feed off.

So, what of the A-League and player recruitment?

This year has seen the emergence of some of the very best imports in the history of the league – the likes of Marc Janko at Sydney FC, Victory's Fahid Ben Khalfallah, Lee Ki-je at Newcastle, Safuwan Baharudin at City and the Spanish quartet at Adelaide, but it's also seen a series of flops at the other end of the scale.

Jonny Steele, Mensur Kurtisi, Malick Mane, Kim Seung-yong, Seyi Adeleke and Vitor Saba all came and went before the season reached its halfway stage while a host of others have failed to fire and will find the exit door at season's end.

In a league bound by squad and salary caps, getting your foreign recruitment right can often be the difference between making the finals or not. It's here where coaches such as Ernie Merrick and Graham Arnold have proven shrewd judges of talent.

It's also probably no co-incidence that the sides which got it wrong this season are those unlikely to make the top six. Across the board there remains a huge gap in how clubs, and particularly agents, scout foreign talent but the potential is there to take a lot of the guess-work out of the system.

The model already exists in America and it's a system that Football Federation Australia would be wise to look at adopting here as the search for a 'better product' continues to stir debate.

The system used by the MLS is, in effect, a centralised scouting model under the guidance of Lino DiCuollo, whereby the league employs a global network of scouts, including half a dozen based in Central and South America, who track players and then compile reports directly to head office.

Those reports – and there are currently more than 300 on file – are available to any club in the league and often include personal traits and requests (including salary demands, preferred locations and so on) which eliminate much of the current guesswork that clubs here do.

It means you won't have agents selling wingers as fullbacks or fullbacks as wingers which has happened here in recent years and players with either questionable work ethic or off-field issues will be vetted far more often than under the current, agent-driven model, which just as often produces hits as misses.

With clubs in Australia either unwilling or unable to employ scouts of their own, too often the burden falls on unscrupulous - and there are several good ones in the mix as well - agents who will weave any tale they can to clubs - which then often fail to do due diligence - in order to earn their commission.

FFA often talks of wanting to provide further career paths for former players and here is an ideal opportunity – post a couple of players fulltime to Europe, others in Asia, Africa and South America and have their reports fed back into a centralised system.

The governing body can take a percentage of any transfer fee to help alleviate costs or it could be done in conjunction with other AFC nations who face similar problems.

The quality of foreign players will be drastically enhanced.

Sitting back and watching the chaos unfold as anyone walks in off the street as a 'player agent' is the other option.

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